FateConsequences
by Count Valerian
Summary: Destiny is not supposed to change. It is after all the set order of things, the way of the universe and all creation. But it is an incredibly fragile thing, easily upset by chance...or the folly of Humans. And when the flow of time shifts in ways that should not be, Chaos will enter the world.


Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, and any copyrighted material used in this work. This is a fanfic, period. Everything belongs to their respective owners. Comments and constructive criticism are all very much appreciated.

Fate/Consequences

Prologue

He was the Demon King and the Fallen Angel, and he was _bored_. Simply put, the Expanse was operating smoothly and his lesser Demon Lords were keeping order in their respective domains, therefore giving him nothing to do apart from lazing around in his private chambers within the Kether Castle.

_Maybe he should go and seed chaos in some worlds to pass the time…_

Lucifer stood and was about to dispatch an avatar to some random world when he heard or rather felt an atonement of blood being offered in exchange for his presence: a Human was propositioning him. Quickly homing in on the source, he immediately dispatched one of his avatars to answer the call.

A brief – for a demon – check of reality quickly obtained for him the profile of the Human, and Lucifer decided that his Louis Cypher form would be the most appropriate avatar for the job. Louise Cypher appeared in the summoning chamber and smiled amiably at the long-haired, Japanese housewife standing in the middle of the summoning circle with a bleeding finger.

"Hello there…" he said cheerfully while walking closer and offering his hand. "…my name is Louis Cypher. May I have your name please?"

_He already knew her name of course, but it always helped to be polite._

"A-Aoi Tohsaka…" the woman stammered out her reply before stepping out of the circle and hesitantly shaking his hand. "…I…I'm pleased to meet you…"

"It's nice to meet you too." Louis returned the greeting. "So, how may I be of assistance to you?"

Aoi shrank back for a moment, and then summoning what little backbone she had proceeded to the main reason behind her summoning a demon by means of the ritual she'd found in that half-rotten book in the Tohsaka Library. "...I…I had to give my daughter away to another magus family." She said. "It…it was my husband's decision, and he assured me that she would be fine but…"

"You have reservations…?" Louis said not a bit tauntingly. "If so, then why did you consent to it in the first place? Are you not the girl's mother? Is her well-being not your responsibility?"

"…it is also a wife's duty to support her husband." Aoi said defensively, and Louis chuckled with mixed amusement and derision.

"Duty…" he said venomously. "…of course…that cruel and hateful word…how I hate it. Service should be done out of free and rational choice, not out of duty-bound obligation. But enough about that: your husband has given you assurances, and yet now you have doubts. What has shaken your resolve so, oh noble and dutiful one?"

Aoi ground her teeth at the implied scorn, but refrained from lashing out. Demons were demons after all, and what did their kind know of virtue and responsibility? If not for what Kariya had told her in the past, she wouldn't even be consorting with his kind.

_She didn't have a choice. The resident priest was her husband's ally, and her concerns would be easily dismissed._

"My…friend has told me concerning things about Matou's…"

Louis interrupted her with a disdainful wave of his arm. "I've heard enough." He said. "Very well, I shall make a contract with you. Do not fear: I do not think your soul will be worth such a trifle as saving your daughter from the clutches of this world's pathetic excuses for magic-users. Yes…a favor will be sufficient."

"...what kind of favor?" Aoi asked anxiously, only to receive a smile in response.

"You will see in the future. You just owe me one, that is all." He said while pulling out a scroll of parchment. Opening it the demon looked it over satisfactorily before handing it to Aoi.

"I don't have a pen."

"Just touch where you're supposed to sign with a finger."

Aoi blinked and hesitantly reached out with a finger. At the last moment she almost stopped, but a twitch of Louis' lips encouraged her and she touched the parchment. She winced as she felt what seemed like a knife slicing through her finger, and while no wound could be found on her finger upon later inspection her signature was now clear on the contract in blood. "Yes…" Louis said as he checked the contract. "…this will be sufficient. Remember: you owe me or my…representative a favor."

"I won't forget."

"We shall see."

* * *

><p>A series of knocks echoed across the mansion, and Zouken Matou paused dragging the unwilling and fearful Tohsaka 'material' by the arm down to the basement. Puzzled at the blanks his bounded field were relaying about the person supposedly at the door, he shrugged it off as his imagination.<p>

Another series of knocks echoed across the mansion as he threw open the doors leading down to the basement, and again the bounded fields detected nothing. He continued on his way, and the girl behind him began to aggressively struggle against his grip as she spotted the pit in the middle of the floor filled with worm familiars. "Isn't it customary to answer the doors when someone knocks?" a child's voice asked out of nowhere, and Zouken whirled in shock to face the source of the sound and sending Sakura Tohsaka tumbling painfully to the floor.

A blonde child in funeral attire was standing to the side with an amused expression on his face, accompanied by a stout and aged woman also in funeral attire. Unlike her ward though, the visible portion of her face was clearly stern as opposed to being amused. "Who the hell are you?" Zouken rasped. "And how did you get in here?"

The blond child laughed, and Zouken shivered as though someone had just walked over his grave. It was an unnerving sensation, something that he had not felt in centuries, not since he had been a man. "It's no concern of yours." The blond child said, and Zouken found himself paralyzed; unable to either move or speak, and unable to use his magic.

"Hello there!" the blonde child said cheerfully while confidently running over to Sakura and helping her to her feet. "What's your name?"

"S-Sakura…Matou…" she replied hesitantly, and only relaxed after the blond child smiled at her.

"My name's Louis Cypher, but you can call me Lou!"

"…o-okay…"

Louis smiled again. "Would you like to be friends?" he asked.

"…okay…"

"That's great!" he said, and with another gesture another man appeared from the shadows. This man was taller and had the general air of young adulthood, but his face was obscured by a mask shaped like a butterfly's wing on the right. "This is another one of my friends: Philemon! He's going to give you a gift from me!"

"A gift…?"

"Yes; it's something to keep you safe, and maybe even strong enough to visit me someday. It's called a Persona!"

"I can't visit you?"

"No…" Louis said sadly. "…my home is…dangerous. Only strong people can live there, but they can live in whatever way they want. Within limits of course…but…one day if you're strong enough, you can visit me. Don't worry though: I'll visit you from time to time."

Sakura searched her newfound friend's face, and found reassurance in his warm smile and cool, mismatched eyes. She nodded and smiled for the first time since being forced to leave her home behind. "I…I'd like that very much Lou."

Louis beamed, and Philemon stepped forward. He held out a hand and offered her a deck of cards. "Choose your course, friend." He said and after an encouraging nod from Louis, Sakura took a card and gave it to him.

"The Arcana is the Devil, the mark of ambition, impulse and violence, and also of strong bonds and commitment." He said while hiding his cards away and taking Sakura's right hand. "It is a strong and dangerous course, one that promises power at the price of a challenge to one's integrity."

Smiling at the perplexed expression on the little girl's face, he nodded encouragingly at her. "Fear not little one…" he told her. "…so long as you have faith in yourself, then no challenge will be beyond you. Receive this gift then: I am you, and you are me. I shall always watch over you from within. Farewell…"

Louis and Philemon faded away, and Sakura was immediately grabbed by an irate Zouken who hauled her with inhuman strength to the pit. "I don't know what that was…" he rasped. "…but it's…!"

Sakura fought back to no avail, despite a hacking cough that briefly stopped the old man's approach towards the pit. To her horror she saw a part of his face rot away, and doubled her struggles.

_Help me…someone help me…anyone!_

At her thoughts a blue glow began to emanate from her, and causing Zouken to drop her in surprise to the ground. The two of them stared in surprise at the black 'alpha' now tattooed on Sakura's right hand, and the glow intensified as a humanoid figure coalesced above the girl as though melting out of her body. "I…am…thou…" the figure said, materializing into an attractive young woman in provocative attire, and boasting demonic wings and a tail. "…and thou…art…I…"

"What is this?" Zouken said in shock, and Lilim held out both of her hands palm-outwards towards Zouken.

"…vanish from this world foul one…" she shouted as Darkness gathered in her palms. "…Mudo!"

The Darkness slammed into Zouken, and obliterated him in an instant. Lilim snorted in disdain even as familiars died en masse with their master. "Pathetic fool…" she said while floating down to Sakura's level. "…splitting and damaging his soul to this extent. We demons may use avatars to travel between worlds, but we never split our souls. That's just stupid."

Smiling at her new master, she comfortingly smiled. Sakura smiled back. "I'm Lilim." She introduced herself. "I am your Persona. I am you, and you are me. I will protect you no matter what."

"I…I'm Sakura." She said. "I-it's nice to meet you."

Lilim smiled again before beginning to fade away. "Don't worry…" she assured Sakura as the little girl looked alarmed at her. "…I will always be with you. Should you ever need me to fight for you, or to speak to you, or even to keep you company, I will be there."

"H-how do I call you?"

"You already know, don't you?"

"Wait…!" Sakura shouted while getting to her feet. But it was already too late, the Persona having dissipated and leaving her alone in a dank and lifeless dungeon. She looked back up at the door, and shuddered at the thought of facing her new 'father' alone. She looked down at her hand, and stared at the alpha tattooed on it. She closed her eyes, and felt comforting warmth surround her. "Lilim…!"

"You called Sakura?"

"I…we need to talk to…father…"

* * *

><p>Byakuya Matou glumly filled his shot glass with more alcohol, and took it down in one shot. He was ruining his life like this, but there was nothing else he could do. If he didn't do it, then he would go insane. Nothing else was there to incite him to value life.<p>

_If he died as a result of alcoholism, then let it be so..._

Thoughts of his son ran through him for a moment, but he quickly shouldered them aside. Shinji had no magical potential, and had therefore nothing to fear. He was useless to Zouken. As for the Tohsaka girl…he was no concern of hers. Her family had thrown her away, and there was nothing he could do to stop Zouken at any rate.

_If she wishes to curse someone for her fate, then let her curse her father. Her only hope – and a faint one at that – was for his brother to return. And even that depended on how generous Zouken would be feeling at the time._

He filled his glass again, and took it down…and promptly spat it out. He stared in disbelief at the blood on the table, and his eyes bulged as he emptied the sake bottle of blood-turned-wine. He slowly turned and swallowed nervously at the sight of the demonic woman floating above and beside a timid Sakura. "Sakura…" the woman said. "…go to your room. I'll be with you shortly."

"O-okay…"

The girl ran off, and Lilim smiled as Byakuya collapsed terrified on the floor. "We need to talk." She said once she sensed her master had left earshot. "But first let's sober you up: Zio."

* * *

><p>AN

And that's a rap. Save your protests: I'm taking a creative approach to the Persona, SMT and Fate franchises, so while I would appreciate **constructive **criticism and reviews, if you're just going to flame, go away and read something else.

At any rate, this is mostly Fate and SMT with bits of Persona thrown in.


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